The Massive Algal Blooms In The Gulf Of Oman Are Stunningly Beautiful From Spac e

http://www.businessinsider.com/massive-algal-blooms-in-the-gulf-of-oman-2013-12?IR=T

The Massive Algal Blooms In The Gulf Of Oman Are Stunningly Beautiful From Space

Several of the world's largest desalination plants sit along the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Every year, they deliver 115 billion gallons of potable water to more than 550,000 people in Dubai alone. But the plants have had to slow or shut down production more frequently over the past decade because of an unexpected disturbance: massive algal blooms in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.

The algae, known as red tide, clog pipes and filters at the plants. For warning of an approaching bloom, local authorities now consult data from a European Space Agency project, which began in 2012. When a passing satellite captures an image of an algal bloom (and software scans for the algae's chlorophyll, represented by the intensity of redness), officials alert plant managers, who then have a few days to decide how to adjust water production.

Red tide could become the norm

http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2013-02-11/Red-tide-could-become-the-norm#.URr30x137Ss

Red tide could become the norm

Story Created: Feb 11, 2013 at 11:35 PM America/New_York

SANIBEL, FL--If you have been to the beach recently, chances are you've seen or felt the recent effects of Red Tide. Scientists say 2012 was a year with nearly non-stop cases and now wildlife experts and biologists are saying the problem is getting much worse.

This weekend, high concentrations of Red Tide were reported near Lighthouse Beach and last week extreme levels around Sanibel were reported.

A trip to the beach should be relaxing unless it's plagued with red tide.

"Irritation inside my chest, just itchy," said tourist Jane Messmer.

The dead fish, potent smell and respiratory irritation is proving to be a common thing across southwest Florida. Biologist Richard Bartleson blames increasing amounts of nutrients making their way in to the gulf which feeds the red tide blooms.

"In the past it might, the normal red tide might start in November and last a few months," said biologist RichardBartleson.

But recently, Bartleson says we have been affected by Red Tide on and off now for five straight months and each red tide bloom is lasting longer than usual.

With the growing population and infrastructure, more water runoff containing nutrients is washing to the gulf.

"The more nutrients you have, the longer the blooms can last and thats right, more normal now," said Bartleson.

A problem putting a damper on many of the daily activities for the thousands of tourists who flock to our area.

"We rented a boat for 8 hours and we came back after 6 because what we planned to do we couldn't do because of the dead fish," said Messmer.

The wildlife is also dramatically affected. In 2012, the Clinic for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) in Sanibel says they saw 439 animals like birds and sea turtles who where poisoned by red tide and that's 168 more than 2011.

"For us it is starting to become an overwhelming problem for us to where sometimes I don't have enough money and enough staff," said Dr. Heather Barron with CROW

Animal doctors are also seeing a wider variety of birds and wildlife that are being affected and scientists say its getting harder to find out what we can do prevent more red tide,in part,  because of the lack of funding.

Red Tide Bioluminescence gives spectacular neon blue light show [Video]

Red Tide Bioluminescence gives spectacular neon blue light show [Video]

http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS-100211_red-tide-bloom.html

Published on October 2, 2011 8:25 am PT - By TWS Science Reporter - Signed by SEO Officer

No larger image available

(TheWeatherSpace.com) - In one of the most spectacular ocean displays, 'Red Tide' is awing people in San Diego County. The Culprit; Phyoplankton. this Algal Bloom season has been going on since Late August.

Red Tide gets the name from the color of the water during the daytime. The color of the water is due to the Algal Bloom, in which large numbers of aquatic microorganism accumulate rapidly in the water. This causes a discolored surface.

China Red Tides

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-07/14/content_12906758.htm

China reports 24 red tides in 1st half of 2011

Updated: 2011-07-14 21:57

(Xinhua)

Comments(1) Print Mail Large Medium Small 0

BEIJING - China saw 24 red tides in its coastal waters in the first six months this year, with atotal contaminated maritime area of 982 square km, according to a report released by the StateOceanic Administration (SOA).

It was less than the average number of red tides for the same period over the last five years,the administration said Thursday.

During the January to June period, 14 red tides occurred in the East China Sea with a totalcontaminated sea area of 721 square km, and three red tides were reported in the Bohai Sea,which affected a total sea area of 200 square km, the administration said.

Meanwhile, the South China Sea recorded six red tides in which the affected maritime areaamounted to 41 square km, and the Yellow Sea saw one red tide, with a total affected sea areaof 20 square km.

In addition, one green tide occurred in the Yellow Sea during the first half of this year, whichcurrently remains there, according the SOA.

A red or green tide, also known as an algal bloom, is when algae accumulate rapidly in water,resulting in discoloration of the surface water. These algae vary in color from green to brown,but are mostly red.

Mass. bans shellfishing in parts of Cape Cod - due to Red Tide

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/05/06/mass_bans_shellfishing_in_parts_of_cape_cod/

Mass. bans shellfishing in parts of Cape Cod

May 6, 2011

BOSTON—

The state has closed areas of the Nauset Marsh system between Orleans and Eastham on Cape Cod to shellfishing because of concerns about toxic "red tide".

The state Division of Marine Fisheries said Friday the area is closed immediately because shellfish have been found contaminated by the plankton present in red tide. The toxin can affect the human nervous system and even cause fatal paralysis.

Among the areas included are Nauset Harbor, Town Cove, and Mill Pond in Orleans and Salt Pond in Eastham.

Digging, harvesting or collecting and/ attempting to dig, harvest or collect shellfish and the possession of shellfish, including carnivorous snails, from the defined areas is prohibited.

The state said experts from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute have seen increasing levels of the toxic plankton in the marsh system.

Red Tides Research

Red tide more harmful, study finds

BY ROB SHAW

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 26, 2011

TAMPA - It took 22 scientists from eight organizations, more than 500 volunteers and nearly $16 million in funding, but officials now have a better grasp on the effects of red tide.

They know now that the toxin can drift as far as a mile inland, meaning that the exposure has a much wider swath than originally thought.

They found that at least 12 different toxins are contained in red tide that can be harmful to people.

They also discovered an antitoxin currently being used to develop a drug to fight cystic fibrosis.

"I think it's tremendous," Barbara Kirkpatrick, senior scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory, said of the many findings of the decadelong study.

Mote worked with the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state Department of Health and other agencies in the most comprehensive study of red tide, the organism that blooms in the Gulf of Mexico, killing fish and fouling the air.

The drug-related discovery was one of the most exciting for Kirkpatrick. "It's just one of those awesome things that you can't predict in research," she said. "We were researching red tide and now we will help people with cystic fibrosis. That's just cool."

Researchers used to think that people visiting the beach would be OK as long as their exposure was short-lived. Now, Kirkpatrick said, they have found that someone with asthma who visits the beach for an hour during red tide can have problems for days.

They also learned that people inland as far as a mile can suffer ill-effects of red tide, she said.

"The next time we have red tide in town, our message will be a lot stronger," Kirkpatrick said. "Even mainlanders who are near the shore need to be more aware."

It's been five years since the last full-fledged outbreak of red tide.

"That's a Catch-22 when you are studying the critter," the Mote official said. "You actually want the critter to show up."

---

kmorelli@tampatrib.com

MPs call for action to save Lake Urmia

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=225139

MPs call for action to save Lake Urmia
Tehran Times Social Desk

TEHRAN - Twenty Majlis lawmakers have written a letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for immediate action to save Lake Urmia and prevent the environmental degradation of the body of water.

The surface of the salt water lake recently turned red due to a phenomenon known as red tide.

Experts have long warned that natural factors, coupled with human activity, will cause Lake Urmia to dry up in the near future if nothing is done.

Meanwhile, the deputy director of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization has said evaporation due to microscopic changes in magnesium compounds in the water turned the lake red.

“Salts containing magnesium in the lake have been concentrated as a result of the evaporation process. Such compounds give the water a red tone,” Mohammad-Baqer Sadouq told the Mehr News Agency on Wednesday.

Declining rainfall, climate change, and rising temperatures are accelerating the evaporation process at the lake, Sadouq noted.

Environmentalist Masoud Baqerzadeh-Karimi has dismissed the claim that wastewater is the cause of the rare red tide phenomenon, adding that if that were the case, the lake water would have turned red many years ago.

The director of the West Azarbaijan Province Department of the Environment, Hassan Abbasnejad, believes that a type of algae is responsible for the red tides.

“Dunaliella salina is a type of algae that creates a red substance in order to adapt to salty environments and survive,” he explained.

Lake Urmia, which is located in northwestern Iran, has a surface area of approximately 5,200 square kilometers.

UNESCO has registered Lake Urmia as a Biosphere Reserve, and it is listed as a wetland of international importance under the 1971 Ramsar Convention.

It is one of the largest natural habitats for the tiny Artemia, which is a genus of aquatic crustacean that serves as a food source for flamingos and other migratory birds.

---------------------------

Please see the previous two posts too.

Red coloured water may be due to many reasons - algae bloom - Red tide or Dunaliella salina or just due to magnesium.

Global warming reddens Lake Orumieh [not red tide]

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139188.html

Experts have ruled out speculations that "red tide" might have caused Lake Orumieh to turn red, blaming the rare phenomenon on global warming.

Lake Orumieh, the second largest salt water lake on earth, turned red as global warming accelerates the evaporation of the lake and gives a red tenor to water.

“Serious evaporation causes microscopic changes in magnesium compounds in the water. Such changes can initiate the red color of the body of water,” Mohammad-Baqer Saddouq, deputy of Iran's Environment Organization told Mehr news agency on Wednesday.

Saddouq discarded the algae bloom theory, saying the algae cannot survive in the mineral-rich water of Lake Orumieh, theorizing that a possible change in the salt compounds might have caused the incident.

“Salts with magnesium in the lake have been intensified and concentrated as a result of the evaporation process. Such compounds give a red tone to the water,” he said.

“Allowing such salt to dry will turn it white,” Saddouq further explained.

Declining rainfall, climate change, and rising temperatures accelerate the evaporation process of the lake, which link to global concerns over the issue.

Experts have warned that ecological factors, together with human activity, will eventually lead to the drying up of Lake Orumieh.

UNESCO has registered the Lake Orumieh as a Biosphere Reserve; it is listed as a wetland of international importance under the 1971 Ramsar Convention.

Iran's Lake Orumieh turns red [with RED TIDE]

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/138985.html

Iran's Lake Orumieh turns red

Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:6PM

Share | Email | Print

The "red tide" is actually the result of an algal bloom, an event in which marine or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water.

The Lake Orumieh in Iran's West Azarbaijan province has turned red as the result of an environmental phenomenon known as the "red tide."

Soap-like foam substance produced by algae started to redden Orumieh from the East Azarbaijan coast and gradually covered the whole lake.

The "red tide" is actually the result of an algal bloom, an event in which marine or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water.

The effect of excessive algae on fish can be lethal. It produces oxygen radicals which can damage fish gills, possibly leading to suffocation.

Some environmentalists say the phenomenon is caused by nutrient loading from human activities or industrial and city wastewater which include nitrates and phosphates.

Other experts, however, say the algae cannot survive in the salty water of the Lake Urmia and a possible change in the salt compounds might have caused the incident.

“When the salinity reaches the point of oversaturation, the salt compounds change,” environmentalist Masoud Baqerzadeh-Karimi told Mehr News Agency.

“The change causes some types of salts, especially those with sodium compounds and white crystals, settle down and those with magnesium and orange crystals remain in the water,” he added.

Baqerzadeh-Karimi rejected the role of wastewater in the phenomenon, saying that in that case “the lake should have turned red many years ago.”

Head of West Azarbaijan environment department Hassan Abbasnejad believes a type of algae is responsible for the incident.

“Dunaliella Salina is a type of algae that creates a red substance in order to adapt to salty environments and survive,” he explained.

The world's second largest salt water lake on earth, the Lake Urmia has faced a lot of environmental problems during the last few years.

Experts have warned that ecological factors and human activity will lead to the drying up of Lake Urmia in the near future.

The maximum depth of the lake has fallen from 12 to six meters and salt levels have reached 340 grams per liter, way above the standard level of 180 to 220 grams per liter.

The water body and its surroundings are home to some 212 species of birds, 41 reptiles, 7 amphibians, and 27 mammals, including the Iranian yellow deer.

It is considered to be one of the largest natural habitats for the tiny Artemia, which serves as a food source for migratory birds, such as flamingos.

UNESCO has registered the lake as a Biosphere Reserve and it is listed as a wetland of international importance under the 1971 Ramsar Convention.

Xiamen's Yundang Lake - Diatom bloom

http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/news12953.html

Xiamen's Yundang Lake becomes smelly due to red tide

Updated: 24 Jun 2010

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Read more on Yundang Lake Xiamen Yundang Lake red tide

The bad smell of Yundang Lake, this unique lagoon in Xiamen

seems to be a chronic illness especially in summer

Recently Xiamen’s Yundang Lake has become smelly again due to the red tide. The nearby residents have to close their windows because of the undesirable odour, reports Xiamen Daily.

“Red tide” is a term often used to describe “harmful algal bloom”. The Skeletonema costatu (one kind of diatom) is the cause of this red tide in Yundang Lake. The proliferated diatoms have tinted the water of Yundang Lake to a reddish colour.

The staff of Yundang Lake’s Management Centre said: “As weather warms up, the micro-organisms at the bottom of the lake become active and generate a great quantity of gas with afoul odour. The increasing micro-organic activities will bring up the ooze, which will intensify the bad smell.”

To solve this problem, the Management Centre has taken many effective measures to deodorizethe lake, including the installation of odour control facilities, the use of automatic aerators and biologicals. Another frequently-used way is to eliminate the diatom oozes.

After long-term purification, the frequency of the red tide has become much lower this year, according to the Management Centre.

------------------

Lake seems to be dominated by only 1 specie of diatom.

Presence of fish in the lake is not mentioned in the article above.

Nutrient controls contributing to Karenia Brevis blooms in the Gulf of Mexico.

http://cprweb.marine.usf.edu/wp-content/pdfs/C&MMote-Lenes.pdf

Nutrient controls contributing to Karenia Brevis blooms in the Gulf of Mexico.

by Jason Lenes, et. al.

Slides 13, 14 and 15 discuss the results of a case study in 2001.

Increase in Si resulted in a 50% fall in K. brevis biomass.

Red Tides - Florida

Red Tide Control and Mitigation Program

http://www.start1.com/docs/CnM-Stakeholders-LRwcov.pdf

Pg 25

Biological control of Karenia brevi s toxicity

Georgia Institute of Technology, Julia Kubanek

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Can other organisms break down red tide toxins? This study demonstrated that native Gulf

of Mexico phytoplankton species are capable of detoxifying waters containing red tide. The phytoplankton do not kill Karenia brevis cells, but they remove brevetoxin from the water column.

Introduction

Growing concern over Florida red tide impacts has motivated researchers to understand how blooms work and how to lessen their effects. There are several forms of brevetoxin (PbTx) produced by Karenia brevis. Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have shown the amount of the most reduced 50-90% when competitive phytoplankton species are present. Further understanding how this process occurs is an important step towards developing a biological control for red tide toxicity.

Project goals

The main goals were to identify which phytoplankton competitors can degrade waterborne brevetoxins and to understand how this degradation occurs. Researchers aimed to determine whether adding live phytoplankton could be a natural biological control of Karenia brevis toxicity and whether this method could also benefit marine life.

Findings and accomplishments

Researchers learned that many phytoplankton competitors (across taxonomic groups, including

diatoms, cryptophytes, and dinoflagellates) can remove waterborne PbTx-2 (see Figure 1). Testing for removal of other brevetoxins by the diatom Skeletonema costatum showed that the detoxifying effect depends on the specific form of brevetoxin (for example, PbTx-2 and -1 were removed, but PbTx-3, -6, and -9 were not removed), suggesting that enzymes play a role in the removal of brevetoxins by competitors.

By adding brevetoxins to killed cultures of Skeletonema costatum and finding no loss of toxin,

researchers learned that live cells are required to remove brevetoxins from the water column, and that the toxin does not simply stick to cellular debris associated with the competitors. However, compounds (probably proteins) exuded by competitors are responsible for some toxin breakdown or removal.

Tests of how much Skeletonema costatum is needed to remove brevetoxins from the water showed that the quantity of competitor cells present has only a small impact on toxin removal. What is most important is the presence of competitor cells.

Experiments with marine invertebrates were also done to learn whether the effects of toxins on

marine life could also be reduced. Tests with brine shrimp (Artemia salina) showed that Skeletonema costatum reduced brevetoxins and removed all toxic effects on the brine shrimp at environmentally realistic concentrations. Tests with the sea anemone Aiptasia pallida included observing physical and behavioral responses as well as toxin levels. Results showed that Skeletonema costatum reduced, and in some cases completely protected against, the physiological damages of brevetoxin exposure.

Pg 26

The finding that Skeletonema costatum can reduce the toxic effects of brevetoxins on marine invertebrates supports using competitor phytoplankton species as control agents for Karenia brevis -- a mitigation strategy that not only will reduce waterborne brevetoxin levels but also could reduce negative impacts on ecosystems and marine wildlife.

-----------------------------------------

Pg 31

Nutrient controls contributing to Karenia brevi s blooms in the Gulf of Mexico

University of South Florida, Jason Lenes

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

This project addresses one piece of the nutrient puzzle related to red tide. Researchers used computer models and experiments to show that increasing the amount of the nutrient silica in an ecosystem may favor the growth of more beneficial phytoplankton species rather than Karenia brevis.

Introduction

Understanding how Florida red tide blooms start, grow, and maintain themselves is key to finding ways to stop or reduce their impacts. Trichodesmium, a nitrogen-fixing marine microorganism, and rotting fish killed by brevetoxins are primary food sources for Karenia brevis in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. These nutrient sources provide nitrogen and phosphorus but not silica. Large amounts of silica continually enter the Gulf from Florida’s rivers.

Although Karenia brevis does not need silica to grow, competitive and faster-growing organisms in the Gulf do. In the early stages of a bloom, organisms that are close to sources of silica may be able to compete more effectively for nutrients. This competition may help slow the growth of Karenia brevis and its potential prey.

Project goals

The project used laboratory and field experiments and computer simulation models to test the role of silica in Karenia brevis growth. Researchers wanted to know how different types and amounts of nutrients available to Karenia brevis may favor growth of more beneficial species. This information can help explain how Karenia brevis blooms grow and maintain themselves in the Gulf, and possibly how altering types and amounts of nutrients might be used to control blooms.

Pg 32

...

To see whether the presence of silica resulted in competition for food sources, two test cases were run: (1) normal initial silica concentrations and (2) elevated initial silica concentrations.

In case 1, a Karenia brevis bloom began in June (see Figure 1a) in response to the “new” nitrogen provided by Trichodesmium. In late July, the bloom reached levels that would kill fish, which gave it nutrients from the rotting fish. The maximum Karenia brevis level predicted by HABSIM in early October was similar to what was seen in the 2001 bloom. Case 2 showed a similar pattern, but the higher concentrations of silica led to an increase in diatoms, which decreased the predicted overall Karenia brevis concentration by about 50 percent (see Figure 1b).

Potential applications

The project results and HABSIM are great starting points for bloom prediction. Future experiments will test how nutrients with and without silica can alter natural shore samples and will help show competition and dominance among co-occurring Gulf of Mexico phytoplankton species. These results will be used to further test HABSIM as a prediction tool. If models continue to show that increases in silica reduce Karenia brevis concentrations, then ways of changing the nutrient regime to treat and reduce blooms can be considered.

Tests show algae [Red Tide] may affect Massachusetts sooner than usual

US issues red tide warning
Tests show algae may affect Massachusetts sooner than usual

By Victor Tine
Staff writer

NEWBURYPORT — Local clammers will be watching the wind this summer.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a warning that the poisonous algae known as red tide could cause significant problems in New England shellfish beds, starting this spring.

NOAA scientists based their warning on a sea floor survey in the Gulf of Maine that found a substantial increase in the number of seed-like cysts of an organism that causes blooms of red tide, which causes an illness called paralytic shellfish poisoning.

The name red tide comes from the reddish-brown tint that colors waters with a large algae presence.

Red tide algae is ingested by filter feeders, such as clams and mussels. The algae causes no harm to the shellfish, but can cause paralysis in humans who eat them.

While NOAA declined to predict where and when the red tide would appear, the scientists found that the cysts' presence appears to have expanded southward, which means the red tide could affect Massachusetts Bay sooner than it has in the past.

Cysts are deposited in the fall and hatch the following spring.

"Last fall, the abundance of cysts in the sediment was 60 percent higher than observed prior to the historic bloom of 2005, indicating that a large bloom is likely in the spring of 2010," NOAA said in a prepared statement.

"Our research has shown that cyst abundance in the fall is an indicator of the magnitude of the bloom the following year," said Dennis McGillicuddy, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Jeff Kennedy of the state's Marine Fisheries Division said the cyst beds extend south and east from roughly around Portsmouth, N.H.

"They're in closer proximity than we've ever seen it before, at least since we've been monitoring," he said.

The density of the cysts is also a cause for concern, he said.

But as Newbury shellfish constable Charles Colby observed, "It all depends on which way the wind blows."

Colby said the red tide algae float on top of the water. If the prevailing wind is from the west, as it usually is, the algae bloom will stay offshore where it won't affect the local shellfish beds, he said.

If the red tide does come ashore, clammers will have no choice but to stop harvesting, Colby said.

"There are no options," he said.

Kennedy said the Marine Fisheries Division monitors shellfish beds weekly, more frequently as algae levels rise, and close the areas when red tide reaches toxic levels.

He said the 2005 red tide bloom was the worst in recent memory. It closed Massachusetts shellfish beds from the New Hampshire border to Cape Cod for about two months.

Typically, a bloom on the North Shore will last about two weeks, he said.

Dishes containing shellfish are staples on the menus of a number of Newburyport-area restaurants, and NOAA said in its statement that restaurateurs may want to make plans for alternate supplies.

Gary Greco, owner of the Starboard Galley on Water Street, said that previous red tide outbreaks haven't affected supplies but can impact prices.

"Usually it just shifts," he said. "If I can't get them from Maine, I get them from Maryland."

Greco said he gets all his seafood from David's Fish Market in Salisbury, where owner Gordon Blaney confirmed that a red tide bloom leaves him with two choices, stop carrying clams or find another supply.

"We'd love to have good, wholesome stuff from our own area, but if we can't, we look elsewhere for the product," he said.

That usually means paying higher prices, Blaney said.

"It doesn't matter if it's oranges freezing in Florida or red tide in clams in Massachusetts, when a normal supply is disrupted, it affects the price," he said. "It's just supply and demand."

Silica Depletion and Lake Regulation

Mr. Roger Wheeler's blog Friends of Sebago Lake has a few interesting comments about role of dams, silica and diatoms on water quality and red tides.

Very few people are making this connection that decline in silica in water reduces diatom population and this causes a bloom of Cyanobacteria and Dinoflagellates.

http://friendsofsebago.blogspot.com/2009/12/silica-depletion-and-lake-regulation.html

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2009
Silica Depletion and Lake Regulation
Everything in Nature is Connected

It turns out that one key factor associated with harmful algal blooms is dissolved silica; intense red tides tend to occur in coastal waters where dissolved silica is low. We are all familiar with nitrogen and phosphorus as nutrients fueling algae growth, but silica is also an essential nutrient for one of the most abundant algae called diatoms. Without adequate dissolved silica, diatoms can't grow and reproduce. Much of the dissolved silica found in our State's coastal waters can be traced back to weathering processes of Maine rocks and soils. Silica, along with other minerals, slowly dissolves and is then carried from the watersheds by rivers to the ocean. With the continuous input of silica from rivers, along with other nutrients, diatoms grow in sufficient numbers and serve to suppress harmful algae that cause “red tides”. Healthy diatom populations in the Gulf of Maine also supply the nutrient foundation for one of the historically richest fisheries in the world.
...
I suggest that our current management strategies of Maine dam hydrology may be an unwitting, but important factor, contributing to silica depletion, increased harmful algal blooms and the present coastal ecosystem decline.

Obama task force calls for National Ocean Council

http://www.bayjournal.com/article.cfm?article=3680

Obama task force calls for National Ocean Council

The Obama administration in September released the first glimpse of a plan to strengthen the way the nation manages the oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes.

President Barack Obama's Ocean Policy Task Force-composed of 24 officials from myriad federal agencies- recommended creating a new National Ocean Council with power to coordinate and hold accountable federal agencies in conservation and marine planning efforts.

"Right now (ocean policy) is done on a piecemeal basis, one agency regulating fisheries, one shipping, one water quality, another national security and there's no real mechanized thinking on how sectors interact with each other," said Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a task force member. "For the first time, we as a nation say loudly and clearly that healthy oceans matter."

The president created the task force to coordinate the federal response to pollution from industrial and commercial activities, rising sea levels and ocean acidification, among other problems.

The new National Ocean Council would replace the Committee on Ocean Policy, instituted by President George W. Bush in 2004, which the task force called "moderately effective."

The council would help coastal communities-whether it be a struggling fishing industry in Northern California or a hurricane-damaged area on the Gulf Coast-through better coordination and strategic planning.

The report also recommends that the federal government view all ocean policy with a "ecosystem-based approach," meaning decisions would be made with an emphasis on understanding how all life would be affected in a given area. Officials said this would be a key philosophical shift in the nation's approach.

The report is short on details about how and when these goals would be achieved, but environmental groups applauded the White House's efforts, calling it is an important first step in achieving badly needed reform.